Culture of England - Cuisine

Cuisine

Since the early modern era, the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach, honesty of flavour, and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. This has resulted in a traditional cuisine which tended to veer from strong flavours, such as garlic, and an avoidance of complex sauces which were commonly associated with Catholic Continental political affiliations Traditional meals have ancient origins, such as bread and cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, and freshwater and saltwater fish. The 14th-century English cookbook, the Forme of Cury, contains recipes for these, and dates from the royal court of Richard II.

Modern English cuisine is difficult to differentiate from British cuisine as a whole. However, there are some forms of cuisine considered distinctively English. The Full English Breakfast is a variant of the traditional British fried breakfast. The normal ingredients of a traditional full English breakfast are bacon, eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast, and sausage, usually served with a cup of coffee or tea. Black pudding is added in some regions as well as fried leftover mashed potatoes called potato cakes or hash browns.

Tea and beer are typical and rather iconic drinks in England, particularly the former. Traditionally, High Tea would be had as a separate meal. Cider is produced in the West Country and, more recently, East Anglia and the south of England has seen the reintroduction of vineyards producing white wine on a small scale.

Roast beef is a food traditionally associated with the English; the link was made famous by Henry Fielding's patriotic ballad "The Roast Beef of Old England", and William Hogarth's painting of the same name. Indeed, since the 1700s the phrase "les rosbifs" has been a popular French nickname for the English.

England produces hundreds of regional cheeses, including:

• Cheddar cheese
• Stilton cheese
• Wensleydale cheese
• Lancashire cheese
• Dorset Blue Vinney cheese
• Cheshire cheese
• Double Gloucester cheese
• Red Leicester
• Blue cheese

More dishes invented in or distinctive to England include:

• The English crumpet is a form of crumpet; it is distinguished from its Scottish equivalent by its greater thickness
• Muffins, known as 'English muffins' in North America, are a form of rounded, yeast-leavened bread
• Lancashire hotpot
• Crumpets
• Mushy peas
• Beef Wellington
• Worcester sauce
• Clotted cream from Devon and Cornwall
• Yorkshire pudding
• Sausage and mash
• Eccles cake
• Cumberland sausage
• Lincolnshire sausage
• Balti, a form of curry invented in Birmingham
• Apple pie
• Banoffee pie